December 12, 2008

This is the 3rd video in the Mike Carroll series in Epicly Later'd. I was kind of confused by this particular video, because it is just a weird rave scene with people's heads pasted on. But I ended up watching it twice, really zoning out to what the narrator (Sam Smyth?) was saying about how raving and the things that come with that particular scene really brought people together.

I felt that he gave an accurate or honest portrayal of that diffuse archetypal phase that a lot of youth go through. To simplify it, would be to strip it down.

It really was a strange yet beautiful thing, and somehow we're all lucky to get through it... if we did.

December 11, 2008

XLR8R Magazine has some good content on their YouTube channel, unlike their magazine. Here are two I peeped and thought were good with a glass of Brita water. In the first video, Eliot Lipp visits some second hand shop in NYC with a basement full of records (*that one is for you, Stackswell) at around the 6:00 mark; they even include the name and location. He mentions that A-1 takes all the good stuff before the rest of the records trickle into this shop. The second video follows Daedalus, who I'm still getting familiar with but always thought was intriguing.

December 9, 2008

"Boxing makes you curvy," she said, striking a pose with a giggle. "I want to be a pretty girl who does pretty boxing...but in this sport, you do take some punches..."

*These pictures and quote are from a recent NY Times article on Hyunmi Choi, a Korean "champion" boxer. True North Korean refugeestatus live from South Korea. In that picture in the grocery store, she's wearing sunglasses to hide black eyes from a recent fight. Sometimes people amaze me. Illmatic yea.

**In between moments of real life, I like to check out a few blogs/sites for cues on modern culture and general inspiration. Some of them are:

1) Scott Hansen's blog ISO50: I like his take on graphics, photography, and other stuff, but really I dig his music put out under the alias "TYCHO". His homie Jakub blogs on that site as well, letting us know the skinny on some good new music as well.

2) Patrick O'Dell's mini documentary-series on skateboarding called "Epicly Later'd" on VBS.TV. The show is based around the perspective of a fan and maybe a friend. It allow geeks like myself in on the more personal aspects of skateboarding. As much as "lifestyle" makes me cringe, it has always been what attracted me to skateboarding in the first place. Check out the latest series on LAKAI, especially the retrospective on the Carroll brothers. I am also a fan of the John Cardiel series.

3) Last but not least, Reed Space owner and "self-made" man Jeff Staple's To Darrin Hudson, is a nice little blog from a great person in my opinion. (*The boxer article is an indirect pull from his site.) I don't know him personally, but the guy has always been pretty positive from the get-go.

As a teenager back in the "platform.net" days, Staple caught my attention, because he was one of few Asian-Americans doing what I thought was out of the ordinary, along the likes of DJ Q-Bert, the Mountain Brothers, DUEL MCI, and Jeff Pang. In one magazine feature back in the day, he mentioned dropping out of pretty much every major university in NYC, which to me was kind of refreshing. Staple went on to help start a few major clothing companies, and eventually his own company/design firm/multifunctional machine. The funny thing is, he's been kind of killin' it for years, but I swear there was like a whole 10 year gap before he blew up with the whole Pigeon dunk craze. I loved the days of the Staple ads with just one picture and a cheezy yet truthful quote like "Happiness is not a destination, but a state of mind". In a way, these small ads, and his small tidbits of coverage, were a life-saver for outcast kids like me growing up in the suburbs. So Mr. Staple, thanks for the hope back in the day.